Android, smartphone chief leaves role at Google

Google CEO Larry Page announced that the company’s head of Android, the world’s largest mobile operating system, Andy Rubin, will step down and be replaced by Sundar Pichai, the company’s VP of Chrome and Apps.

Rubin is going on to a “new chapter” at the company, Page said. Google declined to give us access to Rubin for an interview or share his new title. It is not clear if the move is voluntary or not.

However, Page was extremely supportive of Rubin’s contributions to the company over the years. “Andy, more moonshots please!” blogged Page.

Many have wondered whether Android would ever merge with the Chrome operating system. Google hasn’t confirmed anything, but Pichai has overseen the rise of the Chrome, as both a browser and an OS. With the lines between smartphones, tablets and PC’s blurring every day — Google just released a touchscreen laptop, in addition to its Nexus smartphone and tablet line — it seems logical to bring the operating systems under one roof.

Rubin has run Android from it’s inception as an upstart mobile operating system. Google bought the company in 2005, as the world was clearly heading for smartphones and Google realized they’d need a competitor to the likes of then-popular WebOS and Blackberry’s operating system. The iPhone came along in 2007 and that same year Google unveiled its version of the Android operating system.